Games Inbox: Lightning Returns, Ground Zeroes, and Walking Dead

The evening Inbox is pining for news on more Deadly Premonition, as one reader asks for Mega Drive role-playing recommendations. To add your own comments to the Inbox email us at
gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk.

But will the complaints go away?

Critics returnThe Fabula Nova Crystallis series has generally been getting a lot of criticism because it moves away from ‘normal’ Final Fantasy games. Hello! It needs to move on into the new century or the franchise will die for sure. Hopefully, Lightning Returns will silence the more foolish critics, since it seems to address all their issues with the XIII series.It also looks like it will round off the Lightning story very well, although the words people are using to describe it are rather misleading when compared to what was actually said. Also, I sincerely hope that Versus XIII will get a showing before the end of this year, otherwise the yelling about it will never stop. Personally, I expect that game sometime in late 2013 to early 2014.T. M. W.GC:Final Fantasy Versus XIII has already been confirmed not to be at the Tokyo Game Show.Solid impressionSo Kojima has said that the demo of Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes that was run on a PC is comparable to the final PlayStation 3 version. Wow, that is impressive; I remember being blown away by the Metal Gear Solid 4 demo and being doubtful that it could run on Sony’s black box yet four years on with a new game and I firmly believe Kojima can work his magic all over again.Bilal RangzebGC:And yet it’s also meant to be out for the Xbox 360 and he didn’t say anything about that. We suspect the question of what formats Ground Zeroes is on is a lot more complicated than Konami is currently letting on…Bad PremonitionMy wanting for Deadly Premonition has once again been piqued by the Reader’s Feature at the weekend. I was wondering if you knew anything more about the supposed Director’s Cut coming to the PlayStation 3 in Europe? It was announced in March, so six months has passed without it seemingly being mentioned even as a footnote in a press release. Is this news as bad as I fear it is?RubiconGC:SWERY hints at it occasionally, but there’s never been an official announcement or press release. According to him a director’s cut is planned this year and a sequel next, but so far there doesn’t seem to be any kind of publisher deal for either…

Clemy, are you OK?I was so excited to read your glowing review of the new episode of The Walking Dead. I’d just played it the previous evening and was really hoping that sites would choose to review it and get word out of just what a compelling, emotional and mature series this is turning into. Sure there are the technical glitches (I’m on Xbox 360) but this is the first game I’ve played in a long time that has kept me so tightly engrossed in the characters and their development that I just don’t care about what the thing looks like (though it certainly isn’t ugly).To me it really, really feels like a fully rounded, fully developed script and story that just happens to be in a game. I care for Clementine, I feel brotherly towards other characters and (rightfully it seems) mistrust others. I mean some of the stuff that happened to my group midway through this episode has just totally thrown me – everything turned upside down and then; bam, bam, bam one event after another and I’m left totally bewildered.My first thought after these tumultuous events? Check that Clem is OK and not just in some arbitrary game-thinks-I-should-check-on-Clem kind of way, I actually needed to see her for myself to make sure what happened hadn’t just devastated her. Amazing.Not since the very final scenes of ICO have I felt so attached to a game’s characters and their outcomes. It’s starting to push for game of the year for me and certainly best download. Everyone, give it a try.Matthew HardcastleFull time jobAlex, you can most certainly have as many pats on the back as you like from me. You’ve earned them! Finishing Elite Beat Agents on Hard Rock is a heck of an achievement! (I managed it myself a few years ago, but only because I’d just finished uni and didn’t have a job so had a lot of time to practice!)Truth be told I found Hard Rock to be a bit unfair, rather than just hard; the icons pop up with a fraction of a second’s warning and are gone just as quickly. Sweatin’ was my favourite way to play. I still occasionally boot it up for a quick go on Jumpin’ Jack Flash, only to be immediately embarrassed by just how much my skills have deserted me.Sparky the YakRefreshing honestyI’m buying a new TV and need some advice. How important is the refresh rate? I was going to buy a 50Hz TV, but remember some games having 60Hz options. As a late entry to the Hot Topic, the game I wish I had played is Elite. I have to get this off my chest – I hate wireless controllers! Remember the good old days when you could play a game without having to stop to change the batteries? This is my biggest problem with the Wii U controller.Renaissance ManGC:As far as current gen consoles go the refresh rate is irrelevant, as that only relates to the analogue display. We think, you best wait for a reader to make sure we’re not talking rot.Mega bootGC, over the weekend I managed to pick up a boxed Mega Drive with the original Sonic for £12.50 at a boot fair, which I thought was a pretty good deal. Can you recommend any role-playing games for the system? I have only had a quick look and the Phantasy Star games seem like an option. I would also love to hear other readers boot fair bargains!eyetunes (PSN ID)PS: What is going on with Persona 4 Arena release date?GC:The Phantasy Star games are a good start, but you should also consider Shining Force, Shadowrun, Landstalker, and Sword Of Vermilion. Alas, there’s nothing we, or apparently the publisher, can tell you about the Persona 4 Arena UK release date at the moment.Late topicMy favourite game I have never owned was GoldenEye 007. Loved everything about it from the levels to the multiple objectives on different difficulties. The only negative; it was only on the Nintendo 64. Reading these pages I appear to be in a minority only owning one console per generation simply from a cost and time to play point of view. My other I hope is only temporary; Mass Effect, loved 2, completed 3 but would pay good money for the trilogy, all downloadable content and the extended cut endings. Are there any rumours GC?AlistairPS: Loved Expendables 2, but then I made up 50% of the audience and I got to chat up the attendant afterwards as neither of us threw any popcorn around.GC:No rumours at all we’re afraid. Apart from anything it’s not clear whether Mass Effect 1 is still tied up as an Xbox console exclusive.Far East of HollywoodI know I said my next letter won’t be just on Hollow Shotguns (buy it and support independent literature!) but about video games, yet after the letters regarding the current quality of cinema, I must dispense some advice to those jaded with Hollywood… taste Asian cinema! South Korea for instance produces immensely bold works, exemplified by Park Chan-Wook’s Vengeance Trilogy, of which Oldboy is easily the strongest (and worryingly receiving a Hollywood ‘reimagining’).It’s siblings, Sympathy for Mr Vengeance and Lady Vengeance are also superb. And it’s only a thematic trilogy, so they’re great standalone movies also… Kim Ji-woon’s I Saw the Devil is as stunning as it is violent. And Memories of Murder, a Zodiac-esque thriller (made before Zodiac), and The Host are likewise quality.Hong Konger Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle is deft cinematic liberation, exuding physical comedy, verbal wit, surrealism (an impromptu Bollywood-esque dance in the opening minutes) and sharp homages, all laced with eyeball-pulsing fisticuffs. His Shaolin Soccer, whilst narratively weaker, is perhaps even funnier (certainly sillier). I actually adore Hustle and Shaolin so much, I devoted a whole conversation to them in Hollow Shotguns, where The Set cite almost every offbeat moment. I was also recently impressed by Donnie Yen’s Wu Xia, the smartest, sharpest martial arts flick I’ve eyed for some time.Indonesian The Raid leaves Hollywood actioners blushing. And Japan’s Battle Royale remains extremely awesome…The above is by no means exhaustive and many are pretty recognized, but they’re great introductions for those never venturing out the comfort of Hollywood studio celluloid. All should be viewed in their original tongue with English subtitles for that purity. Contrasting much of Hollywood, they’re not fixated with the ‘mainstream’, challenging us rather than idly appeasing.KhalX (PSN ID)Khal_P/HollowShotguns(Twitter)PS: I totally promise my next letter will be about the current music scene. Sorry, video games!

Inbox also-ransDare I say Pro Evolution Soccer may finally have got it right this year. Natural and realistic player movement and off the ball runs, solid graphics and frame rate and put a smile on my face beating Man U as Barcelona playing the Barca way. No commentary on the latest demo, but who cares it’s usually rubbish anyway!DrunkenLunken (PSN ID)What a great little community we have now, well done GC! I just wondered if any GCers have any recommended game shops in New York since I off there shortly. I got some fabulous suggestions on here for when I went to Japan a few years back!deadadij (gamertag)/Deadadij (PSN ID)GC:We know it’s got a Nintendo shop full of exclusive merchandise, our credit card remembers that at least.I was at the US College American football match between Notre Dame and Navy in Dublin’s Aviva stadium on Saturday (great day all round). The half time marching band reminded me of a video I had seen on YouTube a few years ago that I think GCers would love to see…Angry_Cadaver (PSN ID)PS: Can Sony Europe please do something about the delays in Walking Dead episodes for PlayStation 3?

Thanks to Pelago in the comments section I found the Mappy-like game I was looking for. It was Crime Busters (1988) for the ZX Spectrum.The SiO (gamertag)

This week’s Hot TopicWith the unveiling of Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes , and hints at other games that may or may not be for next generation consoles, we want to know what you’d like your favourite game series to look like on the Xbox 720, PlayStation 4, and Wii U.

For this weekend’s Inbox tell us which games you’d like to see first on the new consoles and how you’d like them to change as a result. What do you hope the more powerful graphics will allow them to do in terms of the level of detail and size of the game world? How would you like them to take advantage of new control systems such as the Wii U GamePad and Xbox SmartGlass?Are there any new technologies, such as VR headsets, that you want the new systems to support and if so how do you hope the games will use them? Are there any franchises you hope don’t continue into the next gen, and why?

E-mail your comments to:gamecentral@ukmetro.co.ukThe small printNew Inbox updates appear twice daily, every weekday morning and afternoon. Letters are used on merit and may be edited for length.You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word 4Player viewer features at any time, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.